The Ferguson Brothers
Two Black men were shot and killed by a police officer in Freeport on a cold winter morning in 1946. Another was wounded. All three were brothers, two were World […]
Revisiting Robert Moses
Robert Moses is the man most New Yorkers love to hate. This is in no small part due to his own hubris and the impact he had on the people […]
Returning to the Culper Spy Ring
Today we dive back into a discussion of the Culper Spy Ring, turning our attention to the area of Port Jefferson or, more appropriately, its original incarnation of Drowned Meadow. […]
Collecting Bottles off Gilgo Beach
Long Island’s barrier beaches are fascinating places. Stretched along the south shore of the island, they persist through much of Long Island history as wild natural landscapes constantly shifting and […]
The Last of the Hempstead Plains
The Hempstead Plains were once a defining feature of Long Island. Covering some 40,000 acres, the Plains stretched from the Queens border in the west to the Suffolk border in […]
William Sidney Mount and Long Island People of Color
William Sidney Mount was known for his keenly-observed portraits and scenes of everyday life on Long Island during the first half of the 19th century. He portrayed farmers, fiddlers, tradesmen, […]
Long Island Beach
We continue our exploration of Long Islands other than our own. This episode takes us inland from the East Coast to the banks of the Whitewater River in western Ohio. […]
Judging the Amityville Horror
Thomas M. Stark served as a judge in Suffolk County and New York State beginning in the early 1960s. During his career he presided over a number of important cases […]
Square Dancing and the Durlachers
Glenn Durlacher looks back over his family’s legacy of square dance calling on Long Island with deserved pride. His grandfather Ed pioneered square dancing in the New York City area […]
How the Suffragists Lived
They were women and they fought for the right to vote. Beyond that, every person documented in the Online Biographical Dictionary of the Woman Suffrage Movement in the United States […]
Marguerite Kearns and an Unfinished Revolution
In 2020 we marked the centennial of woman suffrage and the passing of the 19th amendment. Although the intervening 102 years can make that struggle feel like the distant past, […]
The Jews of Long Island
Brad Kolodny returns to the podcast to update us on what he’s been doing during the intervening thirty episodes. Turns out he’s got a new book and a new historical […]
Cold War Long Island
Journalist Karl Grossman and historian Christopher Verga have teamed up for the new book Cold War Long Island, out now from the History Press. In it, they detail the productive […]
Lucinda Hemmick and the Southold Indian Museum
We continue our focus on the Southold Indian Museum by talking with their current president, Lucinda Hemmick. A science research teacher from Longwood High School, Lucinda found her way to […]
Jay Levenson and the Southold Indian Museum
Welcome to part 1 of a 2-part episode focusing on the Southold Indian Museum. Today we speak with Jay Levenson, incoming executive director of the museum. Jay discusses his Native American […]
The Story of Telefunken in West Sayville
Welcome to our 150th episode! Connie Currie is back to bring us the story of the Telefunken site in West Sayville and how she and a dedicated band of radio […]
The Long Island in Casco Bay
Some may be shocked to find that there are many Long Islands out there, each with its own fascinating history. We’ve taken up the challenge of finding those who are […]
The Lost Boys of Montauk
In her first book, The Lost Boys of Montauk, journalist Amanda Fairbanks documents the story of the Wind Blown and the four men who lost their lives aboard it in […]
A Personal History of PTSD
Frank Romeo graduated from Bay Shore High School and enlisted in the US Army during the height of the Vietnam War. Despite fighting in the Tet Offensive and participating in […]
Love, Death, and German Immigrants in 19th Century New York
If you were a corrupt or incompetent official in 19th century New York City, Philip Merkle was your worst nightmare: an idealistic German immigrant with subpoena power. As city coroner […]
Agent Orange on Long Island
We finish out our special three-part series on Long Island’s Vietnam veterans by looking at a second battle they faced in the years after the war: the effects of Agent […]
Joe Giannini and the Vietnam War
Jack Parente and the Vietnam War
Born and raised in Oyster Bay, Jack Parente found himself drafted into the Army in 1967 and served in Vietnam from 1968-1970 as a member of a reconnaissance unit of […]
A Cinderella Story from 1950s Long Island
Elizabeth Letts has a knack for finding good stories and evoking a time and place. In her New York Times bestselling book The Eighty-Dollar Champion, she uncovers the secluded equestrian […]
The Life of Marion Hollins
Imagine you were a woman born at the height of the Gilded Age with a passion, not for fashion or society, but for sports. And you grew up riding bareback […]
The Life Story of Primo Fiore
Primo Fiore was born in Brooklyn but raised his family in Deer Park while working as a physical education instructor in West Islip. His gifted speaking voice, combined with a […]
Restoring Thornhill’s Pharmacy with Matthew La Piana
Thornhill’s Pharmacy has overlooked the center of Sayville from the corner of Main Street and Gillette Avenue for over a century. This is actually the second location of Sewell Thornhill’s […]
Long Island Migrant Labor Camps
Mark Torres has uncovered a little-discussed chapter of Long Island history, the conditions under which many migrant farm workers labored on area farms from World War II into the early […]
Lost British Forts of Long Island
Since moving to New York from his native Canada, David Griffin has made it his mission to find and document the Revolutionary War-era forts that the British used to help […]
The African American Museum of Nassau County
Joysetta Pearse, director of the African American Museum of Nassau County, joins us to discuss the mission and operations of the museum. She shares a number of inspiring stories, many […]
The Glacier That Made Long Island
A wall of ice dominated the landscape of Long Island thousands of years ago. During the Pleistocene Epoch, a large mass called the Laurentide ice sheet stretched across most of […]
Brentwood and Local Media
We’ve got two segments for you today. The first is a conversation recorded online through the Brentwood Public Library during a podcast demonstration last year. Our participants recall some childhood […]
Mickey Quinn and St John the Baptist High School
It’s the early 70s in West Islip and St John the Baptist High School is gearing up for a crucial game against St. Agnes of Rockville Centre. But for freshman […]
Francis “Two-Gun” Crowley
Over the span of a few short months in 1931, 19-year old Francis Crowley was on the minds of everyone from the Bronx out to Long Island. Known for always […]
Mary L. Booth: Always an Independent Woman
Mary Louise Booth wrote her own story. A single woman from Long Island, she rose to prominence in the world of New York publishing as an acclaimed author, translator, and […]
The Long Island Archaeologist
Allison McGovern has been digging history for a long time. Fascinated as a child with ancient Egypt and visits to the Metropolitan Museum of Art, she went on to become […]
Shudder Island
Robert Ottone is no stranger to the strangeness on Long Island. An Islip native, he has been attuned to the Island’s darker hues from an early age and has worked […]
Return to Plum Island
Anyone attempting to invade Long Island Sound at the turn of the last century would have faced a gantlet of artillery guns mounted in forts across the islands that stretch […]
The Plum Island That Time Forgot
Plum Island is poised between its past and its future. Looking back, it contains evidence of its time as a coastal defense in the Spanish-American War, as well as a […]
The History Press
Banks Smither oversees the publication of Long Island-related books from the History Press. As Acquisitions Editor, he has built up a catalog of the lost, abandoned, haunted, and forgotten corners […]
Baseball in Riverhead
A July night at Riverhead Stadium in 1950. Two baseball legends face each other without even realizing it. Satchel Paige, fabled Negro League pitcher, is on the mound for the […]
The Synagogues of Long Island
Brad Kolodny spent four years documenting every synagogue in Nassau and Suffolk Counties that he could find. The result is his comprehensive coffee table book from Segula Publishing. On today’s […]
Remembering Lillian Barbash
We’re rebroadcasting our interview with Lillian, Cathy and Susan Barbash about their family and their fight to stop Robert Moses from driving a road down the middle of Fire Island. […]
Preservation Awards: Oakdale Historical Society
Maryann Almes, president of the Oakdale Historical Society, joins us to discuss the organization’s role in preserving and celebrating the history of Oakdale. Located in Islip on the south shore […]
Preservation Awards: The Fordham Mill
The Fordham Mill (also known as the Tuttle-Fordham Mill or the Brick Mill) in Remsenburg was a local landmark long before it caught the eye of John Kanas. Growing up […]
Preservation Awards: Babylon’s Oak Beach Life- Saving Station
Welcome back to the awards ceremony. Today we hit the beach to talk to Mary Cascone, Babylon Town Historian, about the Oak Beach Life-Saving Station. Perched between the Great South […]
Preservation Awards: Sea Cliff Firehouse
The preservation awards ceremony continues! Today we speak with Erinn McDonnell of the village of Sea Cliff in Nassau County. Erinn managed the restoration of their 1931, Tudor revival-style firehouse […]
Preservation Awards: SANS Sag Harbor
It’s a preservation party and you’re all invited! We’ve teamed up with Preservation Long Island to help celebrate their 2020 Preservation Awards. Over the next week we’ll be posting interviews […]
John Warren’s Almanack
We travel this week to the Adirondacks (virtually speaking) to talk with John Warren, founder and publisher of New York Almanack. Formerly known as the New York History Blog, the […]
Where Old New York State Newspapers Live On
Our sojourn through the hallowed pages of the Suffolk County News from 1920 hit a speedbump this week when it turned out that no digital copy was available online. To […]